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Friday, 29 June 2012

When we are looking for God’s direction in our lives, we
sometimes attach significance to “signs.”

We may recall the
story of Gideon in Judges chapter 6, where Gideon asks for a sign that God is
with him by laying down a wool fleece.
The next morning, if the ground was dry but the fleece was saturated
with dew, then Gideon would be sure that God was sending him. One problem happened, though. Gideon was not sure if it was really God or
just a random event. Thus he asked for
a second sign: a dew covered ground and a dry fleece.

When we read a
Bible story like this we often think of the actions of the characters as being
the guide for us, either what to do or what not to do. Since Gideon found God’s guidance through
this method, we think to ourselves that asking for signs is biblical. However, if we look at Bible accounts from
the point of view of what we can learn about God’s part in the story we will
see a different lesson coming out of Gideon’s experience. That is, God stoops to our weakness. That is reassuring.

When I was 17
years old and on a summer mission trip I remember asking God for a sign to show
he wanted me to become a teacher. Like
Gideon, the sign I asked for was completely unrelated to the issue at hand, and
I see now was quite inappropriate! I
had heard from several people in this Michigan community that the pastor used
to have a stuttering problem. The
sign I asked for was to hear this pastor stutter. Then I would know God wanted me to become a teacher. Well, much to the embarrassment of this
pastor, the very next day when he was leading us in a Bible study he began
suddenly to falter in his speech. I
never had the courage to tell him my part in this.

I’ve since
discovered that God’s guidance often comes through circumstances rather than
signs: an open door, a closed door, a Scripture passage that comes to mind, the
advice of a strong Christian friend, or things falling into place after a time
of uncertainty.

Saturday, 23 June 2012

The basis for this post was an article I wrote for an
“Opinion Shaper” column in Durham
Region’s “This Week” newspapers in
2001, but in light of the Private Member’s Bill seeking to discover when human
life begins I revised it here.

People in our
society do not like rules and restrictions placed upon them, especially in
matters that involve “personal choice.”
On talk radio I have heard numerous callers state their ethic something
like this: “People can do whatever they want as long as they are not hurting
anyone.” Now, what is wrong with this
moral code? It sounds civilized and
enlightened.

My main objection
is that to justify doing “whatever you want,” humans are very good at simply
redefining “anyone” and “hurt.” In the
past, entire categories of humans were denied the status of “somebody” and
became victims of great harm. But today
every “anyone” has rights, and there are human rights watchdogs and a Charter
of Rights and Freedoms to guarantee them, aren’t there? Not quite.
The very youngest members of the human race are not regarded as
somebodies if it is more convenient for them not to be, despite the testimony
of the ultrasound.

How do we redefine
“hurt”? When we are striving to please
ourselves, it is easy to minimize any negative effect our actions could or do
have on others. When the “others” in
question are not “somebodies,” we take no notice when embryologists announce
that pain can be felt at 12 weeks gestation.
Most newscasts do not carry the discovery that for a period of time
beginning at 12 weeks, the fetus’ natural pain-reduction system of endorphins
and other hormones is not yet in place.
A pre-born baby at this stage feels more pain than any of us can imagine
when it is violently dismembered or poisoned to death.

The leading cause
of death in Canada today (2005 statistics from www.phac-aspc.gc.ca) is not due to
disease or accident. The vast majority
of victims are perfectly healthy. Abortion
killed 96,815 in 2005, with circulatory diseases coming in second at 71,749 deaths in the same
period. We are not used to
cause-of-death statistics being reported in this way. Why?

If statistics
Canada called abortion a death rather than something therapeutic, Canadians
would have to admit somebody was hurt as they did whatever they wanted. And then we would discern that because our
enlightened moral code does not protect everybody, it doesn’t work for anybody.

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

We are currently in “the Year of the Dragon,” according to
the Chinese calendar. Have you ever
noticed that all of the other creatures in this twelve-year cycle (the rat, ox,
tiger, rabbit, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog and pig) are animals we
are all familiar with by direct experience?
Isn’t it curious that in the midst of these ordinary animals there is
one mythological creature? Does it at
least suggest that what we consider mythical today may at one time in human
history have been very real?

In addition to the
Chinese calendar, there are accounts of Australian Aboriginees never taught
about dinosaurs in an academic setting recognizing them as entities that their
ancestors feared and faced.[1] An ancient carving from the ruins of the
temple at Angkor Wat resembles a stegosaur[2]. Why do cave paintings of woolly mammoths
have credibility and not those of dinosaurs except that they fit in with what
science has declared to be true?[3]

Both dragons and
dinosaurs have a modern fascination appearing in films like Jurassic Park
and more recent young adult fiction series such as “The Last Dragon Chronicles”
by Chris D’Lacey and the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. These fantasies place humans and
dragon/dinosaurs together despite the timelines taught to children from
Kindergarten that dinosaurs died out long before humans appeared on planet
earth.

It is striking
that the theme park “Canada’s Wonderland” chose to name its newest ride after a
mysterious creature named in the Bible, namely Leviathan. It joins the already popular ride Behemoth. Their descriptions in the oldest book of
the Bible, Job 41 and Job 40: 15 ff respectively are intriguing to the
open-minded.

[1]Geelong
Advertiser, July 1845, reprinted in the same newspaper in 1991.

Saturday, 9 June 2012

For centuries in
Europe the only way to hear from God was in the language of the educated,
Latin. The language of spirituality was
dissociated from everyday life. The
warmth of conversations between family members around the table and hearth
could not be captured when the priest read from the Scriptures in a foreign
tongue.

One of the
greatest gifts of the Protestant Reformation, in my opinion, is having the
Bible in a language I understand best, not one I studied later. From that time until now Christian men and
women have been busy translating the word of God into the heart language of
hundreds of people groups around the globe.
This task has been complicated by the fact that many languages did not
have a written form at all. For them,
an alphabet and dictionary had to precede the Scriptures.

The Bible-less
language groups are predominantly found in Asia and Africa, but nine years ago
I learned of the completion of a rather surprising Bible translation project. The Old Order Mennonite language of Low
German or Plautdietsch finally had its own Scriptures! Prior to this, all Bible reading and faith
practice used High German, a language less familiar to this Christian group,
which stresses simplicity of living.
Yet for all these years as their spoken language deviated more and more
from the language of the Scriptures they used, they could easily lose that
heart connection with the God they serve.

Perhaps there is
someone who will want to read the Lord’s Prayer in Plautdietsch. Even if you cannot understand these words,
be grateful that you can read the Lord’s Prayer in your own tongue:

Friday, 1 June 2012

The people I meet often describe themselves as “busy.” For instance, some are working longer hours
because their workplace is competitive or understaffed. Some middle-aged people feel the pressures
of caring for their children at the same time as their aging parents. Calendars are full of activities, and our
list of things to do lengthens by the day.
We need some checks that will stop us before we get to the point of becoming “too busy.” I was reminded of them again this week.

The first check is
my husband and children. I consider
them a high priority, and that means I want to spend time with them. The way that happens consistently at our
house is family meals around the table. We eat dinner together every night, and
we often work together to prepare the food.
We purposely carve out this time and wait until everyone is at
home. I realize this may change when
our children become teenagers, but family meals are still something valuable to
strive for. It gives stability to the
entire family unit and shows everyone their value on a daily basis.

Another check is
Sundays. I was raised at a time when
stores were not open on Sundays. We
always managed to do our shopping on the other six days and appreciated the idea of having Sundays off
to spend with family and participate in faith activities. Even today we enjoy taking a break on
Sundays and make sure it is not at someone else's expense. Seven-day weeks are a universal part of
calendars even though they do not correspond to astronomy in the way years,
months, and days do. There is something
about the rhythm of six days of work and one day of rest that helps me deal
with life more reflectively.

My choices of
transportation also help me to keep a balanced pace in my life. Even though my husband and I own a vehicle,
I would rather take the bus or walk to local destinations. Walking gives me time to think and plan;
riding the bus allows me to read a book without worrying about city
traffic. These modes of travel also
lend themselves to friendly interchanges with other people; they remind me my
concerns are not the only ones that matter.

Finally, I make a
point of asking myself, “Am I too busy to help someone?” If the answer is
“yes,” then I know my priorities are
mixed up. People are more important
than agendas. My radar is tuned to
people who may need practical help, and I try to do what I can to be a good
neighbour.

About Me

My purpose in writing the providence place blog is to encourage others to reflect with me on God's providential care in every day life. Voorzienigheidsruimte is a selection of my best posts translated into Dutch.